Magic Vs Science

Eighteen

It had been a few months since I had spilled into the darkness of my mind. I won't lie and say that it doesn't hurt anymore, because it does. Ursis told me that I am strong, but he's wrong. I simply put on a strong act and push my way through the days. Aalto was growing very fast now. He was nearly fully grown and beginning to get his own food. It was mainly just water and fruit. Aalto and Kade bonded well, but Ben and Ellie refused to get close to him because they were afraid that he would remember what they did to me. To be perfectly honest, I fully believe that he doesn't remember anything from that day. I even asked Adonis to look at his memories a couple days ago. "Ixora, I have the final images for you from Aalto's memories." Adonis handed me a file while I sat at my desk in my office.

"Thank you, Adonis." I looked over the pictures carefully, studying each and every one of them closely. "Are these in order from birth?" Adonis nodded. I kept looking them over and got to the day that we were attacked, it was a blurred image, but it was still there. Aalto remembered it.

"It's fading. That file is of his first memories, they will fade to nothing soon enough." Adonis piped up.

I looked at him and smiled softly. "Than Ben and Ellie have no reason to avoid him anymore. Take them into your lab, and show them everything that you have done. Show them that Aalto is forgetting that day like they don't remember their infant years." He nodded and headed out of my office. I took another look at the images, but this time, something caught my eye. I looked closely at it. It was of the elder's eyes. There was a spell there. It was a spying spell. He was being used. I stood and stormed to where we had decided to lock the elder up. Yes, he was still alive. "Elder. Good morning. How was your sleep?"

He glared at me. "It was cramped. We phoenix's need space to spread our wings when we sleep. This cage you have locked me in has denied that." He voice clearly indicated that he was pissed. "What is it that you want from me now? I told you everything, haven't I?"

I lifted the picture and showed him his own face through Aalto's eyes. "This is a still frame of Aalto's memories. In this image, I want you to tell me exactly what you see."

He looked at the photo for a while when he finally sighed. "I see a very angry self in this photo. I see nothing other than that." I nodded and held a magnifying glass up to the image, steadying it over his eye in the photo. "What is that?" The elder leaned forward to look closer. "Answer me, Beast. What is that?"

"That is a spell that was placed on you by someone. I do not know who it was, but if I were to guess, it was a witch who knows where you live. That spell is for spying. It allows the witch to see what you see and hear what you hear. I am willing to bet my life, that you are still under that spell right now." I moved the image away and held the glass up to his eye. He blinked once, and there it was, the spying spell was still in affect. "As I thought, the spell is still in affect and you are still being used like a tool."

"Do you know how to remove it?" He sounded like he wanted to be sick. "Can you remove that nasty witches spell?"

"I can, but I don't know if I want to yet. I like seeing this side of you. Hurting my son, leads to you getting hurt too." I smiled.

His chest puffed out. "How dare you! You will remove this spell or you will have to pay the consequences! I can call out to all of my kind and they will swarm this place and kill you all!"

I laughed. "That won't work. You see, outside this room, no one can heard a thing. Scream and yell all you want, no one is coming, and no one will hear you." What he didn't realize, is that I was already removing the spell bit by bit so that the other witch would only think that her spell was wearing off. Spying spells need to be kept up with, or they would stop working.

The Elder puffed out his chest. "You cannot keep me here forever. You will die long before I do."

I couldn't help but giggle. "Yes I can." I paused, just long enough to remove the remaining part of the spell. "You see, I'm near immortal while I have my Beast half. There is only one other person that can remove my Beast from me and that is my mate. I know for a fact that he wouldn't ever do that to me. It would lead to me dying."

"Why are you telling me this? The witch can hear you. Are you that stupid or what?" His cocky grin made my blood start boiling.

"No, but clearly you are. I wouldn't have said anything like that while she could hear or see me. I already removed the spell, you stupid old man." I crossed my arms across my chest.

"How about letting me go than?" He glared at me.

I smirked and placed my finger on my chin as if I was thinking about something. "Hmmm---" I paused and paced back and forth in front of him, purposely taking my time just to make him angry. "Well you see, you still hurt my son. That causes an issue for me." I paused and paced some more. I already knew exactly what I wanted from him.

He sighed. "What do you want than?" His response was a bit snippy. I couldn't help but laugh.

"I would like to make a deal with you." I looked right at him. He remained quiet and watched me, the interest showing in his eyes. "You see, I need help in this war against Helena. You want to be free again. I'll let you go, but only if you agree to help me win this war, and, you stay away from Aalto. He is of no concern to you as he is mine."

The Elder narrowed his eyes at me. I just watched him as he thought over it. It was a pretty good deal if I do say so myself. He got his freedom and his life, in exchange that he leaves Aalto alone and helps me win the war. "One thing I don't agree to." He finally spoke. I raised my eye brow at him. "I don't agree to leaving the third alone. That thing is a curse to my kind. It cannot be allowed to live."

"No deal. You will remain in this cage until the day you ascend." I turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind me. His shouts became silence once the door was closed. I let out a sigh. "Stupid bird." I muttered to myself.

"I agree with you. He is rather stupid. " Onyx spoke to me. I smiled and shook my head. "What? It's true. We both know that old birds don't like to change their ways."

"Yes, I know that. However, a little more time in the cage should do him some good. Maybe it will even change his mind."

Onyx burst into laughter. "Yeah right. I know his type. He won't change his mind until the day he dies. Also, being locked in a cage, means he can't ascend. He'll just die and become someone's Beast."

I laughed at that. "Oh what karma. Maybe I should just keep him in the cage than. Give him to a human as a Beast."

"Who's a Beast now?" Ursis said as I walked into the kitchen. I looked up and smiled. "Who? I want to know."

I giggled. "If I keep the Elder in that cage until he dies, he can't ascend. He will end up becoming a Beast. He wouldn't like that very much would he?" Ursis just shook his head and smiled. He knew just how evil I could be if I really wanted to, and right now, I wanted to be evil to him.